November 1, 2009

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University took an exciting come-from-behind 2-1 victory in women's soccer past visiting New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Sunday afternoon at the Athletics Complex in Farmville. Junior Alex Myers/Stafford (Colonial Forge) scored the game-winning goal at 70:08 for the Lancers in the season finale on Senior Day. Longwood completed its 2009 campaign with a final record of 9-8-1, marking the fourth consecutive winning season for the program under veteran 16th-year head coach Todd Dyer '93 who earned the 175th win of his coaching career (175-104-16).

NJIT had taken an early 1-0 advantage less than 10 minutes into the match as Kori Washington took a pass from Gechi Ukaegbu and beat the home keeper to the outside with her shot at 9:54. Longwood kept battling in the closely-played contest and finally tied it at 1-1 late in the first period when senior Tia Nardella/Brookline, Mass. (Brookline) took a misplayed ball and beat the visiting keeper with a shot to the far post at 41:23. The Lancers maintained control of the match throughout the second half with several excellent scoring opportunities, including a missed penalty kick at 61:55, but it remained 1-1 until Myers' decisive goal. On the play, she received a nice through-ball from freshman Lindsey Ottavio/Fairfax (W.T. Woodson) in the center of the box and was successful on the one-touch into the net for the game-winner.

“The way our season has gone, it's only fitting that we come-from-behind to get a 2-1 win on Senior Day,” said Dyer. “It's even more special that Tia, one of our graduating seniors, got the goal that brought us back into the match and started the comeback.

“We feel good about having a winning record this season … we've been pleased with some of our results and we've been disappointed with some of our results. It's the journey that counts and we certainly got our money's worth in that regard.”

Longwood took a 20-7 advantage in shots, including 9-2 in attempts on-goal, and also had a 5-3 edge on corner kicks. Ottavio led LU with six shots, three on-goal, while redshirt-junior keeper Marcia Biddle/Woodbridge (Gar-Field) played the entire match in front of the net for the Lancers with one save. Sadie Mele played the duration for NJIT with seven saves, and Amanda Dotten had four shots, one on-goal. The Lancers have never lost to the Highlanders in three overall meetings over the last three seasons (2-0-1).

Longwood recognized its four seniors during pre-game festivities, including first-year captain Nardella, second-year captain Ashlee McConnell/Carlisle, Pa. (Carlisle), Brenda Cary/Bristow (Brentsville), and Michelle DeSieno/Centreville (Chantilly). The four have helped the program compile an overall record of 40-29-7 [.572] over the past four winning seasons, including the 2008 United Soccer Conference Tournament Championship.